3 Tips for Creating Compelling Content for Your B2B Tech Audience

Your customers and prospects are increasingly less receptive to traditional marketing methods. But the good news is that you have more platforms to reach your audiences than ever before.

Enterprise companies in the technology sector are realizing unprecedented gains in visibility, differentiation, and market share with well-implemented content marketing strategies. The complexity of tech products and services begs for compelling content that can explain the value of your B2B brand’s offerings and the role they play in larger tech solutions.

Compelling content is what content marketing is all about. By writing engaging blog posts, insightful long-format articles, and thoughtful social media updates about the topics your audience truly care about, you can grab the attention of leads and stay connected with your customers. By sharing your expertise about high-interest industry topics, you can establish your brand as a thought leader and earn the type of trust that converts prospects into loyal customers.

There is no cookie-cutter content marketing strategy for the B2B tech industry. But here are several of our best tips about content marketing tools that may be highly effective for your brand:

Educating your audience

Blogging is a natural content marketing platform for your brand. The fast-paced, ever-changing nature of the tech sector means that developers, executives, and other tech workers are constantly scouring the Internet for quick, clear explanations of the latest technology issues.

Google, Microsoft, and other big enterprise tech companies run a number of blogs that focus on different subjects. A smaller start-up usually has at least one blog that keeps followers updated on new developments, product upgrades, and more. For any company, big or small, a regularly updated blog can help position you and your staff as tech thought leaders, clearly communicate your vision and passion for your clients and your product or service, and give customers and prospects a reason to keep coming back to your site.

Tech readers are notorious for quickly scanning online content to decide whether it’s worthwhile. Blog content must grab their attention right away and compel them to keep reading. But how do you write posts that your audience will actually want to read? The best blog posts take a conversational tone — engaging, enlightening, and entertaining. Tech blogs can easily suffer from stuffy language that reads like a technical document or insider jargon, so write in unpretentious language.

What should you blog about? If you’re stuck for ideas, perhaps discuss an industry trend, introduce a key new  hire, suggest how your readers can improve their productivity, or propose a solution to a nagging problem. Regardless of the topic, remember that attention-grabbing titles are just as critical as compelling body text, but never sacrifice clarity on the altar of cleverness.

Taking a longer view

Thoughtful content is the best content, and no other content marketing format provides more thoughtful reading than long-form articles. They allow you to dive deeply into complex, high-interest topics and help establish thought leadership.

Because long-form content is such an important tool for B2B tech brands, we wrote another post to cover them in detail. But here’s a quick overview of the major types of long-form content.

White papers and e-books are digital publications that provide unbiased information and advice on industry topics. Case studies provide readers a concise, concrete example of how a business problem was solved. A bylined article educates readers by taking a position on industry issues and trends. Typically published in trade publications and industry blogs, bylined articles help position you and your team as industry experts — without the negative reactions consumers have to advertising.

Making conversation

In less than a decade, social media has all but supplanted traditional media as the public’s primary source of news and information. If you manage your social media presence effectively, the resulting opportunities for viral marketing can help you tap into an ever-expanding network of customers and prospects. You will expand and reinforce brand awareness, position your company as an industry thought leader, encourage market feedback, and deepen customer intimacy.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ are the big four of social media. Although you may want to use more than one network to connect with your audience, LinkedIn is the most important one for most enterprise tech companies. A recent survey showed that 94 percent of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content, making it the social media platform they used most often.

LinkedIn connects tech professionals by showcasing their work history, current jobs, and career goals. B2B companies prize LinkedIn because it also provides a great platform to establish thought leadership. It now allows users to publish content directly to the LinkedIn network. You can target your audiences by sharing your knowledge and insights with colleagues, industry contacts, and leads.

No matter which social media networks you use, take a thoughtful approach. Social media uses a few words to make a big impact. Successful posts are concise, well-written, witty, and relevant. Too many posts can bore users and run the risk of fading into background noise. But posting only occasionally offers little value and can disappoint readers to the point where they “unfollow” your brand.

Even if you have a solid content marketing plan in place, the challenges of executing it are significant. Consistently published, high-quality content creation demands time and energy that can strain resources and pull the focus away from your core mission. That’s where outside vendors like Prose Media can help you create content that connects with your audience. Sign up to gain access to our free platform and get a free custom quote, no obligation.